Memorial Cup begins Friday; AHL, ECHL playoffs continue

Embed from Getty Images

 

The 2025 Memorial Cup is set to begin on Friday night in Rimouski.

The host Oceanic will take on the WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers in the tournament's opening game. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. AT and the game can be seen on TSN.

The Oceanic feature the only former Saint John Sea Dogs player taking part in this year's tournament. Forward Eriks Mateiko recorded seven goals and four assists in 18 playoff games with the Oceanic, helping the club reach the Gilles-Courteau Trophy final.

Mateiko has always performed well in big moments. The Washington Capitals prospect had a breakout performance at this year's World Junior Championship and, more recently, scored the Game 7 overtime goal that sent the Oceanic to the league final.

The Tigers are headlined by 2026 NHL Draft top prospect Gavin McKenna – who Mateiko faced at this year's world juniors. Speculation continues that McKenna could be heading to the NCAA for next season.

Saturday will see the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats take on the OHL champion London Knights at 7 p.m. AT. Moncton finished the regular season ranked first in the CHL while London was second.

The game will see two coaching legends go head-to-head: Gardiner MacDougall of the Wildcats and Dale Hunter of the Knights. MacDougall, often referred to as the king of the short tournament, will be looking for his second Memorial Cup title after guiding the Sea Dogs to the 2022 title.

The Knights were favoured to win last year's tournament but they fell to the host Saginaw Spirit in the championship game. The host team has won three of the last six tournaments.

Some other news and notes...

• Spencer Smallman – who captained Saint John at the 2017 Memorial Cup – and the Hershey Bears were eliminated from the AHL's Calder Cup Playoffs on Wednesday, falling 6-3 to the Charlotte Checkers and losing the series 3-0. Smallman finishes the playoffs with two goals and two assists in eight games. The Checkers, meanwhile, feature former Sea Dogs forward Riley Bezeau – who was part of Saint John's 2022 Memorial Cup winning squad – but he has appeared in just one playoff game so far this year.
• Joshua Roy scored his first goal of the playoffs in the Laval Rocket's 4-1 win over the Rochester Americans on Wednesday. The Rocket can secure a spot in the Eastern Conference final with a win on Friday.
• William Dufour – the 2022 Memorial Cup MVP – made his playoff debut with the Colorado Eagles on Wednesday. Dufour was held off the scoresheet in a 3-2 Eagles loss to the Abbotsford Canucks. The Canucks lead that best-of-five series 2-1 heading into Friday's Game 4.
• In the ECHL's Kelly Cup Playoffs, Nicolas Guay, Vincent Sevigny (who captained the Sea Dogs at the 2022 Memorial Cup) and the Trois-Rivieres Lions fell 4-2 to the Florida Everblades on Wednesday, blowing a 2-0 third period lead in the loss. The Lions now lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final 2-1. Game 4 is Friday at Colisee Videotron.